Camera signal monitoring apparatus and method

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a camera signal monitoring apparatus and method, the camera signal monitoring apparatus including a vehicle information input unit receiving a vehicle speed and a yaw rate signal of a vehicle; a navigation information input unit receiving a road curvature signal provided in a high precision map; a camera information input unit receiving a camera signal including a vehicle speed and a yaw rate signal from a vehicle front camera; and a monitoring unit calculating a reference curvature value based on at least one of the vehicle speed and the yaw rate signal of the vehicle, which are input from the vehicle information input unit, or the road curvature signal from the navigation information input unit, and determining a reliability by comparing the calculated reference curvature value with a curvature value calculated using the camera signal input from the camera information input unit.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No.10-2019-0045341, filed Apr. 18, 2019, the entire contents of which isincorporated herein for all purposes by this reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a camera signal monitoring apparatusand method and, more particularly, to a camera signal monitoringapparatus and method that determines whether a signal output from avehicle front camera is abnormal.

Description of the Related Art

Recently, for the convenience of a driver who uses a vehicle, varioussensors and electronic devices are provided in the vehicle. Inparticular, research on an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) hasbeen actively conducted for driver convenience. Furthermore, anautonomous vehicle has been actively developed.

In addition, many automakers are presenting semi-autonomous drivingfunctions on the basis of their own algorithms and systems. Typicalexamples of the systems include a smart cruise control that maintains avehicle speed relative to vehicles in front and performs functions inconjunction with navigation, a lane keeping assist (LKA) that activelykeeps a vehicle in lane, a forward collision-avoidance assist, anemergency braking system, and the like.

Such systems perform vehicle control using the information input througha vehicle front camera, and the vehicle front camera receives a yaw ratesignal and vehicle speed information of the vehicle and provides laneinformation, lane offset, curvature information, and the like for thepurpose of vehicle control.

The reliability of information output from the front camera isimportant. In the related art, the vehicle controller cannot interpretsignal processing inside the camera, so that it is not clear whether thefront camera signal is normal or abnormal, or at what period and when tocheck the signal. When the yaw rate signal used inside the front camerais incorrectly input or erroneously corrected, errors are caused in theoutput value, which results in a malfunction when controlling thevehicle using the front camera.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problemsoccurring in the related art, and the present invention has an objectiveto provide a camera signal monitoring apparatus and method thatdetermines whether signal output from a vehicle front camera is abnormalaccording to the reliability of a calculation algorithm inside thecamera.

A camera signal monitoring apparatus according to an aspect of thepresent invention includes a vehicle information input unit receiving avehicle speed and a yaw rate signal of a vehicle; a navigationinformation input unit receiving a road curvature signal provided in ahigh precision map; a camera information input unit receiving a camerasignal including a vehicle speed and a yaw rate signal from a vehiclefront camera; and a monitoring unit calculating a reference curvaturevalue based on at least one of the vehicle speed and the yaw rate signalof the vehicle, which are input from the vehicle information input unit,or the road curvature signal from the navigation information input unit,and determining a reliability by comparing the calculated referencecurvature value with a curvature value calculated using the camerasignal input from the camera information input unit.

According to the present invention, the monitoring unit may include asignal processing unit that filters signals input from at least one ofthe vehicle information input unit, the navigation information inputunit, and the camera information input unit.

According to the present invention, the monitoring unit may include anvehicle trajectory calculator that calculates the vehicle drivingtrajectory on the basis of an offset-corrected yaw rate signal and thevehicle speed from the vehicle information input unit, in which thevehicle trajectory calculator calculates a first curvature value bydividing a yaw rate value of the offset-corrected yaw rate signal by avehicle speed value of the vehicle speed signal.

According to the present invention, the vehicle trajectory calculatormay calculate the vehicle driving trajectory when the vehicle speedvalue and the yaw rate value are less than or equal to a thresholdvalue.

According to the present invention, the monitoring unit may include areference curvature calculator that calculates the reference curvaturevalue by combining the first curvature value calculated by the vehicletrajectory calculator and a second curvature value of a road curvaturesignal received from the navigation information input unit.

According to the present invention, the reference curvature calculatormay calculate the reference curvature value by combining the firstcurvature value and the second curvature value when the second curvaturevalue is input from the navigation information input unit, anddetermines the first curvature value as reference curvature value whenthe second curvature value is not input from the navigation informationinput unit.

According to the present invention, the monitoring unit may include areliability determiner that calculates a reliability value of the frontcamera when the camera signal curvature value calculated using thecamera signal is equal to or greater than a threshold value compared tothe reference curvature value.

According to the present invention, the reliability determiner maydetermine a percentage value of a difference between the camera signalcurvature value and the reference curvature value as the reliabilityvalue of the front camera when the camera signal curvature value isequal to or greater than the threshold value compared to the referencecurvature value.

According to the present invention, the monitoring unit may determinethat the signal of the front camera is abnormal when the reliabilityvalue is greater than or equal to the threshold value during apredetermined time, and outputs a front camera abnormal signal, in whichthe monitoring unit outputs the front camera abnormal signal to at leastone of a warning unit that notifies a driver of the abnormality and avehicle control unit that performs control in such a manner as totransition an operation of a vehicle control system using the frontcamera to a standby state.

A camera signal monitoring method according to another aspect of thepresent invention includes receiving, by a monitoring unit, a vehiclespeed and a yaw rate signal of a vehicle from a vehicle informationinput unit; receiving, by the monitoring unit, a road curvature signalprovided in a high precision map from a navigation information inputunit; receiving, by the monitoring unit, a camera signal including avehicle speed and a yaw rate signal of a vehicle front camera from acamera information input unit; calculating, by the monitoring unit, areference curvature value based on at least one of the vehicle speed andthe yaw rate signal of the vehicle, which are input form the vehicleinformation input unit, or the road curvature signal from the navigationinformation input unit; and determining, by the monitoring unit, areliability by comparing the calculated reference curvature value by themonitoring unit with a curvature value calculated using the camerasignal input from the camera information input unit.

The method according to the present invention may further includefiltering, by the monitoring unit, a signal input from at least one ofthe vehicle information input unit, the navigation information inputunit, and the camera information input unit.

The method according to the present invention may further includecalculating, by the monitoring unit, a vehicle driving trajectory usingthe vehicle speed and the yaw rate signal of the vehicle, which areinput from the vehicle information input unit, after the receiving ofthe camera signal, wherein the calculating of the reference curvaturevalue is provided so that the monitoring unit calculates the referencecurvature value based on at least one of the calculated vehicle drivingtrajectory and the road curvature signal from the navigation informationinput unit.

The calculating of the vehicle driving trajectory according to thepresent invention may be provided so that the monitoring unit calculatesthe vehicle driving trajectory based on an offset-corrected yaw ratesignal and the vehicle speed from the vehicle information input unit,and calculates a first curvature value by dividing a yaw rate value ofthe offset-corrected yaw rate signal by a vehicle speed value of thevehicle speed signal.

The calculating of the vehicle driving trajectory according to thepresent invention may be provided so that the monitoring unit calculatesthe vehicle travel trajectory when the vehicle speed value and the yawrate value are less than or equal to a threshold value.

The calculating of the reference curvature value according to thepresent invention may be provided so that the monitoring unit calculatesthe reference curvature value by combining the first curvature valuecalculated by the vehicle trajectory calculator and a second curvaturevalue of the road curvature signal input from the navigation informationinput unit.

The calculating of the reference curvature value according to thepresent invention may be provided so that the monitoring unit calculatesthe reference curvature value by combining the first curvature value andthe second curvature value when the second curvature value is input fromthe navigation information input unit, and determines the firstcurvature value as the reference curvature value when the secondcurvature value is not input from the navigation information input unit.

The determining of the reliability according to the present inventionmay be provided so that when the camera signal curvature valuecalculated by the camera signal is equal to or greater than a thresholdvalue compared to the reference curvature value, the monitoring unitcalculates a reliability value of the front camera.

The determining of the reliability according to the present inventionmay be provided so that the monitoring unit calculates a percentagevalue of a difference between the camera signal curvature value and thereference curvature value as the reliability value of the front camera,when the camera signal curvature value is equal to or greater than thethreshold value compared to the reference curvature value.

The method according to the present invention may further includeoutputting, by the monitoring unit, a front camera abnormal signal bydetermining that the signal of the front camera is abnormal, when thereliability value is greater than or equal to a threshold value during apredetermined time, wherein the outputting of the abnormal signal isprovided so that the monitoring unit outputs the front camera abnormalsignal to at least one of a warning unit that notifies a driver of theabnormality and a vehicle control unit that performs control in such amanner as to transition an operation of a vehicle control system usingthe front camera to a standby state.

The camera signal monitoring apparatus and method according to anembodiment of the present invention has an advantage that thereliability is determined with respect with whether a signal output froma vehicle front camera is abnormal, to notify the driver of theabnormality or perform control in such a manner as to transition thestate of the control system to the standby state, thereby preventing amalfunction when controlling the vehicle using the camera.

In addition, the camera signal monitoring apparatus and method accordingto an embodiment of the present invention has an advantage that it ispossible to primarily determine whether there is a problem with thecamera signal by determining whether an calculation algorithm inside thecamera is abnormal, rather than verifying the camera output signal, andwhen the camera signal is corrected, it is possible to prevent thecamera from malfunctioning by comparing the camera signal with thevehicle signal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features, and other advantages of thepresent invention will be more clearly understood from the followingdetailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a camera signal monitoring apparatusaccording to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a camera signal monitoring methodaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, a camera signal monitoring apparatus and method accordingto an embodiment of the present invention will be described withreference to the accompanying drawings. In this process, the thicknessof lines or the size of components shown in the drawings may beexaggerated for clarity and convenience.

In addition, terms to be described later are tams defined inconsideration of functions in the present invention, which may varyaccording to a user's or operator's intention or practice. Therefore,the definition of these terms should be made on the basis of thecontents throughout the specification.

Also, the implementations described herein can be implemented, forexample, as a method or process, apparatus, software program, datastream, or signal. Although discussed only in the context of a singleform of implementation (e.g., discussed only as a method),implementation of the discussed features may also be implemented inother forms (e.g., devices or programs). The device can be implementedwith suitable hardware, software and firmware, and the like. The methodcan be implemented in an apparatus, such as a processor, generallyreferring to a processing device, including, for example, a computer,microprocessor, integrated circuit, or programmable logic device. Theprocessor also includes communication devices such as computers, cellphones, portable/personal digital assistants (“PDAs”), and otherdevices, which facilitate communication of information betweenend-users.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a camera signal monitoring apparatusaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG.1, a camera signal monitoring apparatus will be described as follows.

As shown in FIG. 1, the camera signal monitoring apparatus according toan embodiment of the present invention includes a vehicle informationinput unit 10, a navigation information input unit 20, a LiDAR & radarsensor input unit 30, a camera information input unit 40, and amonitoring unit 50.

First, the vehicle front camera receives a vehicle yaw rate signal,vehicle speed information, etc. of a vehicle, and provides laneinformation, a lane offset, and curvature information for the purpose ofvehicle control. Herein, when the yaw rate signal used inside the frontcamera is incorrectly input or erroneously corrected, there is an errorin an output value, which results in malfunction when controlling thevehicle using the front camera. Accordingly, the present embodiment ischaracterized in that a signal processing unit inside the front cameraenables determining whether the front camera is abnormal, in which whenthe signal of the front camera is input or corrected, the reliability isdetermined by comparing a camera signal of the front camera with avehicle signal. Specifically, according to this embodiment, when it isdetermined that the signal of the front camera is abnormal, themonitoring unit 50 outputs the front camera abnormal signal to at leastone of a warning unit 60 that notifies the driver of the abnormality,and a vehicle control unit 70 that performs control in such a manner asto transition an operation of the vehicle control system using the frontcamera to a standby state, thereby preventing malfunction whencontrolling a vehicle using the front camera.

The vehicle information input unit 10 receives overall vehicle controlinformation from a vehicle control system that controls an operation ofa vehicle, and further receives a vehicle speed and a yaw rate signal ofa vehicle according to the embodiment. In addition, the vehicleinformation input unit 10 may receive the vehicle speed and the yaw ratesignal of the vehicle, as well as sensing signals from sensors thatsense steering angle, wheel speed, etc.

The navigation information input unit 20 receives a road curvaturesignal provided in a high precision map, and may provide the monitoringunit 50 with a road curvature value of a driving trajectory of avehicle.

The LiDAR & radar sensor input unit 30 may receive sensing values from alight detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensor and a radio detection andranging (radar) sensor provided in the vehicle. Meanwhile, although itis described that the LiDAR and the radar are integrated with each otherin the embodiment, it does not mean that they are necessarily providedas an integrated sensor. The LiDAR sensor and the radar sensor may beseparately provided, and both sensors may be provided in the vehicle, oronly one of the two sensors may be provided.

The camera information input unit 40 receives camera signal informationincluding a vehicle speed and a yaw rate signal from the vehicle frontcamera, and provides the same to the monitoring unit 50. Herein, in thisembodiment, it is possible to determine whether the front camera isabnormal on the basis of the camera information provided by the camerainformation input unit 40. Meanwhile, although it is described that thecamera information input unit 40 receives the camera signal from thefront camera of the vehicle in the present embodiment, the camerainformation input unit 40 may receive camera signals from another cameraprovided in the vehicle.

The monitoring unit 50 sets a reference value on the basis of signalsinput from the vehicle information input unit 10 and the navigationinformation input unit 20 and compares the reference value with a signalinput from the camera information input unit 40 to determine whether thefront camera is abnormal. Herein, although not specifically described inthis embodiment, the reference value may be set including the curvaturevalue input from the LiDAR & radar sensor input unit 30.

Specifically, the monitoring unit 50 includes a signal processing unit52, a vehicle trajectory calculator 54, a reference curvature calculator56, and a reliability determiner 58. The monitoring unit 50 calculates avehicle travel trajectory using a vehicle speed and a yaw rate signal ofa vehicle, which are input from the vehicle information input unit 10,calculates a reference curvature value on the basis of at least one ofthe calculated vehicle travel trajectory and the road curvature signalfrom the navigation information input unit 20, and determines thereliability by comparing the calculated reference curvature value with acurvature value calculated by the camera signal input from the camerainformation input unit 40.

Herein, the signal processing unit 52 filters signals input from atleast one of the vehicle information input unit 10, the navigationinformation input unit 20, and the camera information input unit 40, andalso filters signals input from the LiDAR & radar sensor input unit 30.In addition, the signal processing unit 52 may provide each of thefiltered signals to at least one of the vehicle trajectory calculator 54and the reference curvature calculator 56. The method of filtering thesignals received from the signal processing unit 52 may be implementedin various ways.

In addition, the vehicle trajectory calculator 54 calculates the vehicledriving trajectory on the basis of the vehicle speed and the yaw ratesignal from the vehicle information input unit 10, in which the yaw ratesignal may be an offset-corrected signal. Herein, the vehicle trajectorycalculator 54 may calculate a first curvature value by dividing a yawrate value of the offset-corrected yaw rate signal by a vehicle speedvalue of the vehicle speed signal. That is, the first curvature valuemeans a curvature value for a first signal output from the vehicletrajectory calculator 54.

In addition, the vehicle trajectory calculator 54 may calculate thevehicle driving trajectory when the vehicle speed value and the yaw ratevalue are equal or less than a threshold value. This is to excludesituations of excessive steering and sudden acceleration/deceleration.In other words, in the case of excessive steering or sudden accelerationor deceleration, the vehicle driving trajectory is not calculated.

Next, the reference curvature calculator 56 combines the first curvaturevalue calculated by the vehicle trajectory calculator 54 with a secondcurvature value of a road curvature signal received from the navigationinformation input unit 20, thereby calculating the reference curvaturevalue. That is, the second curvature value refers to a road curvaturesignal provided in the high precision map of the navigation informationinput unit 20, that is, a curvature value for the second signal.

In addition, when the second curvature value is input from thenavigation information input unit 20, the reference curvature calculator56 calculates the reference curvature value by combining the firstcurvature value and the second curvature value, and when the secondcurvature value is not input from the navigation information input unit20, the reference curvature calculator 56 may determine the firstcurvature value as the reference curvature value. Herein, the curvaturevalue input from the LiDAR & radar sensor input unit 30 is a thirdcurvature value, in which the reference curvature value may becalculated by combining the first curvature value, the second curvaturevalue, and the third curvature value, but is not limited thereto.

The reliability determiner 58 may calculate the reliability value of thefront camera when the camera signal curvature value calculated using thecamera signal is equal to or greater than a threshold value compared tothe reference curvature value. That is, the reliability determiner 58may calculate the reliability value of the front camera when the camerasignal curvature value calculated by the camera signal is greater thanthe reference curvature value by a threshold value or more.

Herein, when the curvature value of the camera signal is equal to orgreater than the threshold value compared to the reference curvaturevalue, the reliability determiner 58 may determine a percentage value ofto difference between the camera signal curvature value and thereference curvature value as the reliability value of the front camera.

In addition, the monitoring unit 50 may determine that the signal of thefront camera is abnormal when the reliability value is greater than orequal to a threshold value during the predetermined time. Further, whenit is determined that the signal of the front camera is abnormal, themonitoring unit 50 may output the front camera abnormal signal to thewarning unit 60 and the vehicle control unit 70. That is, the monitoringunit 50 may inform the driver of the front camera abnormal state byoutputting the front camera abnormal signal to the warning unit 60, andperform control in such a manner as to transition an operation of thevehicle control system using the front camera to a standby state byoutputting the abnormal signal to the vehicle control unit 70, therebypreventing malfunction due to the abnormality in the front camera.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a camera signal monitoring methodaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG.2, a camera signal monitoring method is described as follows.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the camera signal monitoring method according toan embodiment of the present invention, the monitoring unit 50 firstreceives a vehicle speed and a yaw rate signal of a vehicle from thevehicle information input unit 10 (S10).

Herein, the vehicle information input unit 10 receives overall vehiclecontrol information from a vehicle control system that controls anoperation of the vehicle, and according to this embodiment, receives thevehicle speed and the yaw rate signals of the vehicle.

Then, the monitoring unit 50 receives a road curvature signal providedin a high precision map from a navigation information input unit 20(S20).

Herein, the navigation information input unit 20 receives a roadcurvature signal provided in the high precision map, and can provide themonitoring unit 50 with a road curvature value of a driving trajectoryof the vehicle. In this embodiment, the road curvature signal input fromthe navigation information input unit 20 may be referred to as a secondsignal or a second curvature value.

Next, the monitoring unit 50 receives a camera signal including avehicle speed and a yaw rate signal of the vehicle front camera from thecamera information input unit 40 (S30).

Herein, the camera information input unit 40 receives camera signalinformation including a vehicle speed and a yaw rate signal from thevehicle front camera, and provides the same to the monitoring unit 50.According to this embodiment, it is possible to determine whether thefront camera is abnormal on the basis of the camera information providedby the camera information input unit 40.

Meanwhile, in the present embodiment, the monitoring unit 50 may filtersignals input from at least one of the vehicle information input unit10, the navigation information input unit 20, and the camera informationinput unit 40.

Then, the monitoring unit 50 may calculate a vehicle driving trajectoryusing the vehicle speed and yaw rate signals of the vehicle, which areinput from the vehicle information input unit 10 (S40).

Herein, the monitoring unit 50 calculates the vehicle driving trajectoryon the basis of the vehicle speed and the yaw rate signal from thevehicle information input unit 10, in which the yaw rate signal may bean offset-corrected signal. Herein, the monitoring unit 50 may calculatea first curvature value (first signal) by dividing a yaw rate value ofthe offset-corrected yaw rate signal by a vehicle speed value of thevehicle speed signal.

In addition, the monitoring unit 50 may calculate the vehicle drivingtrajectory when the vehicle speed value and the yaw rate value are lessthan or equal to the threshold value. This is to exclude situations ofexcessive steering and sudden acceleration/deceleration. In other words,in the case of excessive steering or sudden acceleration ordeceleration, the vehicle driving trajectory is not calculated.

In addition, the monitoring unit 50 may calculate the referencecurvature value on the basis of at least one of the calculated vehicledriving trajectory and a road curvature signal from the navigationinformation input unit 20 (S50).

Herein, the monitoring unit 50 may calculate the reference curvaturevalue by combining the calculated first curvature value and a secondcurvature value of the road curvature signal received from thenavigation information input unit 20. Then, when the second curvaturevalue is input from the navigation information input unit 20, themonitoring unit 50 calculates the reference curvature value by combiningthe first curvature value and the second curvature value, and when thesecond curvature value is not input from the navigation informationinput unit 20, the monitoring unit 50 determines the first curvaturevalue as the reference curvature value.

Next, the monitoring unit 50 may determine the reliability by comparingthe calculated reference curvature value with the curvature valuecalculated using the camera signal input from the camera informationinput unit (S60).

Herein, the monitoring unit 50 may calculate the reliability value ofthe front camera, when the camera signal curvature value calculated bythe camera signal is greater than or equal to a threshold value comparedto the reference curvature value. That is, the monitoring unit 50 maycalculate the reliability value of the front camera when the camerasignal curvature value calculated by the camera signal is greater thanthe reference curvature value by a threshold value or more. In addition,when the camera signal curvature value is greater than or equal to thethreshold value compared to the reference curvature value, themonitoring unit 50 may determine a percentage value of a differencebetween the camera signal curvature value and the reference curvaturevalue as the reliability value of the front camera.

Meanwhile, according to this embodiment, when the reliability value isgreater than or equal to the threshold value during the predeterminedtime, the monitoring unit 50 may determine whether the signal of thefront camera is abnormal (S70), and when it is determined that thesignal of the front camera is abnormal, the monitoring unit 50 mayoutput an front camera abnormal signal (S80).

Herein, the monitoring unit 50 may output the front camera abnormalsignal to at least one of the warning unit 60 that notifies the driverof the abnormality and the vehicle control unit 70 that performs controlin such a manner as to transition an operation of the vehicle controlsystem using the front camera to a standby state.

However, when it is determined in step S70 that the signal of the frontcamera is not abnormal, the monitoring unit 50 may determine whether thereliability value is equal to or greater than the threshold value duringthe predetermined time or may otherwise terminate the operation.

As described above, the camera signal monitoring apparatus and methodaccording to an embodiment of the present invention has an advantagethat the reliability is determined with respect with whether the signaloutput from the vehicle front camera is abnormal, to notify the driverof the abnormality or perform control in such a manner as to transitionthe state of the control system to the standby state, thereby preventingmalfunction when controlling the vehicle using the camera.

In addition, the camera signal monitoring apparatus and method accordingto an embodiment of the present invention has an advantage that it ispossible to primarily determine whether there is a problem with thecamera signal by determining whether an calculation algorithm inside thecamera is abnormal, rather than verifying the camera output signal, andwhen the camera signal is corrected, it is possible to prevent thecamera from malfunctioning by comparing the camera signal with thevehicle signal.

The present invention has been described with reference to theembodiment shown in the drawings, but this is only exemplary, and thoseskilled in the art to which the art pertains will appreciate thatvarious modifications and other equivalent embodiments are possible.

Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present inventionshould be defined by the claims below.

What is claimed is:
 1. A camera signal monitoring apparatus, comprising:a vehicle information input unit receiving a vehicle speed signal and ayaw rate signal of a vehicle; a navigation information input unitreceiving a road curvature signal provided in a high precision map; acamera information input unit receiving a camera signal including avehicle speed signal and a yaw rate signal from a vehicle front camera;and a monitoring unit calculating a reference curvature value based onat least one of the vehicle speed signal and the yaw rate signal of thevehicle, which are input from the vehicle information input unit, or theroad curvature signal from the navigation information input unit, anddetermining a reliability by comparing the calculated referencecurvature value with a camera signal curvature value calculated usingthe camera signal input from the camera information input unit, whereinthe monitoring unit includes a vehicle trajectory calculator thatcalculates a first curvature value by dividing a yaw rate value of anoffset-corrected yaw rate signal by a vehicle speed value of the vehiclespeed signal input from the vehicle information input unit, and whereinthe monitoring unit includes a reference curvature calculator thatcalculates the reference curvature value by combining the firstcurvature value calculated by the vehicle trajectory calculator and asecond curvature value of the road curvature signal received from thenavigation information input unit.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe monitoring unit includes a signal processing unit that filterssignals input from at least one of the vehicle information input unit,the navigation information input unit, and or the camera informationinput unit.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the vehicle trajectorycalculator calculates a vehicle driving trajectory on the basis of theoffset-corrected yaw rate signal and the vehicle speed signal input fromthe vehicle information input unit.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3, whereinthe vehicle trajectory calculator calculates the vehicle drivingtrajectory when the vehicle speed value and the yaw rate value are lessthan or equal to a threshold value.
 5. The apparatus of claim 3, whereinthe reference curvature calculator calculates the reference curvaturevalue by combining the first curvature value and the second curvaturevalue when the second curvature value is input from the navigationinformation input unit, and determines the first curvature value as thereference curvature value when the second curvature value is not inputfrom the navigation information input unit.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the monitoring unit includes a reliability determiner thatcalculates a reliability value of the front camera when a differencebetween the camera signal curvature value calculated using the camerasignal and the reference curvature value is equal to or greater than athreshold value.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the reliabilitydeterminer determines a percentage value of a-the difference between thecamera signal curvature value and the reference curvature value as thereliability value of the front camera when the difference between thecamera signal curvature value and the reference curvature value is equalto or greater than the threshold value.
 8. The apparatus of claim 6,wherein the monitoring unit determines that the camera signal of thefront camera is abnormal when the reliability value that is greater thanor equal to the threshold value lasts for a predetermined time, andoutputs a front camera abnormal signal, wherein the monitoring unitoutputs the front camera abnormal signal to at least one of a warningunit that notifies a driver of an abnormality of the front camera or avehicle control unit that performs a control of transitioning anoperation of a vehicle control system using the front camera to astandby state.
 9. A camera signal monitoring method, comprising:receiving, by a monitoring unit, a vehicle speed signal and a yaw ratesignal of a vehicle from a vehicle information input unit; receiving, bythe monitoring unit, a road curvature signal provided in a highprecision map from a navigation information input unit; receiving, bythe monitoring unit, a camera signal including a vehicle speed signaland a yaw rate signal of a vehicle front camera from a camerainformation input unit; calculating, by the monitoring unit, a referencecurvature value based on at least one of the vehicle speed signal andthe yaw rate signal of the vehicle, which are input form the vehicleinformation input unit, or the road curvature signal from the navigationinformation input unit; and determining, by the monitoring unit, areliability by comparing the calculated reference curvature value by themonitoring unit with a curvature value calculated using the camerasignal input from the camera information input unit, wherein thecalculating of the reference curvature value comprises: calculating afirst curvature value by dividing a yaw rate value of anoffset-corrected yaw rate signal by a vehicle speed value of the vehiclespeed signal input from the vehicle information input unit andcalculating the reference curvature value by combining the calculatedfirst curvature value and a second curvature value of the road curvaturesignal input from the navigation information input unit.
 10. The methodof claim 9, further comprising: filtering, by the monitoring unit, asignal input from at least one of the vehicle information input unit,the navigation information input unit, or the camera information inputunit.
 11. The method of claim 9, further comprising: calculating, by themonitoring unit, a vehicle driving trajectory using the vehicle speedsignal and the yaw rate signal of the vehicle, which are input from thevehicle information input unit, after the receiving of the camerasignal, wherein the calculating of the reference curvature value furthercomprises calculating the reference curvature value based on at leastone of the calculated vehicle driving trajectory or the road curvaturesignal from the navigation information input unit.
 12. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the calculating of the vehicle driving trajectorycomprises calculating the vehicle driving trajectory based on anoffset-corrected yaw rate signal and the vehicle speed signal input fromthe vehicle information input unit.
 13. The method of claim 12, whereinthe calculating of the vehicle driving trajectory comprises calculatingthe vehicle travel trajectory when the vehicle speed value and the yawrate value are less than or equal to a threshold value.
 14. The methodof claim 12, wherein the calculating of the reference curvature valuefurther comprises calculating the reference curvature value by combiningthe first curvature value and the second curvature value when the secondcurvature value is input from the navigation information input unit, anddetermining the first curvature value as the reference curvature valuewhen the second curvature value is not input from the navigationinformation input unit.
 15. The method of claim 9, wherein thedetermining of the reliability comprises calculating a reliability valueof the front camera when a difference between the camera signalcurvature value calculated by the camera signal and the referencecurvature value is equal to or greater than a threshold value.
 16. Themethod of claim 15, wherein the determining of the reliability comprisescalculating a percentage value of the difference between the camerasignal curvature value and the reference curvature value as thereliability value of the front camera, when the difference between thecamera signal curvature value and the reference curvature value is equalto or greater than the threshold value.
 17. The method of claim 15,further comprising: outputting, by the monitoring unit, a front cameraabnormal signal by determining that the camera signal of the frontcamera is abnormal, when the reliability value that is greater than orequal to the threshold value lasts for dring a predetermined time,wherein the outputting of the abnormal signal comprises outputting thefront camera abnormal signal to at least one of a warning unit thatnotifies a driver of an abnormality of the front camera and ora vehiclecontrol unit that performs a control transitioning an operation of avehicle control system using the front camera to a standby state.